Remember When
by DogoodOfSilence
Summary: Naruto is in his Junior year at the Leaf Village Academy. Follow him and his friends as he makes the best of very awkward situations. AU, High School story. Naru/Saku. Reviews and such will be greatly appreciated!
1. Orientation

**Author's Note**

I wrote this in remembrance to a certain relationship that I had with a certain girl. The setting is not the same, because when I was seeing this girl we were in a public high school, not a boarding school. I decided to myself in the place of Naruto, and the girl I was fond of in Sakura's place, so that I could try and reach an audience instead of being distanced by something you probably wouldn't be able to imagine. And don't worry, I won't focus the entire story just around Naruto and Sakura, there will plenty of other ships.

Anyway, this will be multi-chaptered and I promise you'll enjoy if you decide to follow!

So please, leave a review, leave an idea, because I always love and appreciate to read what you guys think!

* * *

**Chapter One**

Orientation

* * *

Leaf Village Academy loomed its inviting warmth over a young, blonde haired boy as he stepped out of his dark blue Honda Civic and onto the school's grounds. The air had a cold, crispy chill to it, making the blonde pull up his collar as a defense against the nibbling weather. The parking lot was littered with fallen leaves, so the blonde couldn't help but step on them and crunch them into small pieces, carrying some away with his shoes. It was the first day of moving in day, but seeing as the boy-who was now entering the school through wide double doors—was a junior and had already attended the school for three years now, he was pretty accustomed to the proceedings that followed.

The first thing the school usually did, before classes began, would be to assign every student to a dorm room and two other roommates. The rooms were more than big enough for three people, so there was no worry when it came to that. However, the boy did have tribulations over who he'd be rooming with. Every year he and his roommates would ask if they could dorm again for the following year, and so far their wishes had been granted, but still, the thought of being alone, or having to meet new people discouraged the blonde boy.

He rounded a corner, his destination being the gymnasium, the largest room in all of the school, apart from the cafeteria. There was an orientation that the whole school had to attend. Light came in blotches throughout the hallway, occasionally spraying him in the face with overwhelming rays whenever he passed a window looking out to the courtyard.

"Naruto!" he heard someone calling out to him from one of the side hallways, on route to the gym.

It was Sasuke Uchiha, a mild mannered boy who did especially well with ladies of the school. The blonde boy knew the Uchiha very well, considering they had been best friends for a very long time. Their parents had known each other from work way back when, and because of that, Naruto and Sasuke began a friendship in grade school.

"Hey, how's it going?" Naruto asked gripping his friend's outstretched hand and doing a sort of jig with it.

"Not bad, man, how was your summer?" Sasuke asked, flipping jet black hair out of his eyes, which was futile because the shiny locks only fell back into place.

Naruto had spent his summer working at a local golf club. He was working to make some extra cash to buy a car, which had happened marvelously; only, he broke the bank when buying his beautiful blue stallion. His only job was to fetch the balls after people hit them out of the driving range. It was easy work, but tedious. The only upsides were the money and the fact that he got to ride around in a golf cart all day.

"Eh, it could have gone better," Naruto shrugged, "I did get that car though, so that's pretty cool. How was yours?"

"You got the Civic?" Sasuke blurted, a beaming smile crossing his face from ear to ear, "dude, that's awesome! I have to see it! And you know, nothing extremely fun, apart from traveling the world and what not," his beaming smile now turned into a small smirk.

This was the first summer that the two had actually spent apart from each other. Being best friends, it was hard for Naruto to be away from his friend for so long, because usually, in the summer months, the both of them spent nearly everyday together. This year Sasuke went abroad with his brother for some non-profit organization that Naruto had forgotten the name of. They went to almost all of the countries, Sasuke occasionally sent short emails compiled of his whereabouts and pictures with his brother and the animals of that region. Naruto received a rather funny one of Sasuke and Itachi in Australia, the two Uchihas trying to box a Kangaroo.

"I think we should get going, you know how the old lady gets when we're late," Naruto said smiling, remembering the picture.

"Yeah," Sasuke sighed, flipping his hair again, "I hope this orientation isn't as boring as the other years."

* * *

"Thank you all for coming, and I wish for you all to be seated!"

"Like we had a choice," Sasuke scoffed into Naruto's ear making him chuckle lightly.

The gymnasium was filled to the brim with students of all years, sitting in seats set up by the miserable looking janitors. Lady Tsunade overlooked the students with a stern voice and an even stricter brow.

"Is it me, or does the Dean's boobs get bigger ever year?" someone said from behind the blonde and the raven, making them and a few people around them burst into laughter, causing a small scene which the Dean chose to ignore.

It was Kiba Inuzuka, a very rough around the edges kind of kid. He had short brown hair, and for some reason, always seemed to wear a shiny, black leather jacket, no matter the circumstance of weather.

"I heard she gets them done before every term, just so she can impress Professor Jiriya," Shikamaru Nara piped up, a usually quiet boy, but was definitely smarter than he lead on.

The Dean, Lady Tsunade, began talking about school curriculums and regimens that must be followed, the usual jargon that no one really paid attention to. But, it was something Lady Tsunade said at the end of her lecture that caught Naruto's attention, and not for the right reasons.

". . . and a new curfew has been set on you students. You are allowed to leave the school grounds, but only after your classes are completely finished. You must be back before ten o' clock, and in bed by eleven, no later. Any student caught off the grounds after those times, or out of bed after those times will be punished by severity deemed by me, the Dean."

"What?!" Naruto released, a little too loudly.

"Yes, Naruto," Tsunade continued, "that does go for you too, in fact, we enacted this curfew because of you, and your antics from previous years."

The gymnasium laughed nervously at the clueless blonde, while he sat in his seat, completely unaware that Lady Tsunade had continued talking.

"Also, one more thing, before you all leave to your rooms and such," Tsunade said, "I know this will probably embarrass her, but regardless, my granddaughter has decided to join us this year, she is transferring from Konoha High. Come on up sweetie."

A very pretty, pink haired girl glided her way up the podium so that she was equal in height with Lady Tsunade. She looked quite timid, and very embarrassed that the Dean, her own grandmother would make her do this, but nonetheless she stood there. Her eyes, the color of a shiny emerald, shifted around at her peers, as if looking for a weak point to stare at, but none showed. So, she simply stood there, occasionally roughing up her hair to look windswept.

Sasuke couldn't take his eyes of the girl. He was practically drooling as he gawked at her. Naruto laughed as he watched his friend make a fool of himself.

"Tell them your name, honey," the Dean insisted.

"Sakura Haruno," the girl said almost immediately, more out of nervousness than eagerness to tell her name.

Naruto could tell that she didn't want to be there, almost as much as he didn't, but there was definitely something strange about this girl. He couldn't quite put his finger on it yet, but then realizing what he was thinking, he came to the conclusion that he didn't care. He had already forgotten the girl's name.

* * *

"That's enough now, you're all free to go," Tsunade said, resting her hand on the pink haired girl's shoulder.

Naruto was the first to stand up, flinging his hands behind his head as he walked behind a quo of giggling girls out to the hallways. Sasuke accompanied him to the east side of the school, where they would find out their dorm rooms, and roommates.

"I hope they put us together again this year," Sasuke said idly, making sure he only stepped on the black tiles of the floor.

"I bet they will, it's just the new kid I'm worried about," Naruto said, reaching out and pushing a door out in front of him.

"You mean that Sakura girl?" Sasuke asked, turning to give Naruto his complete attention.

"No," Naruto said laughing, "I mean our new roommate, are girls all you care about?"

"They're the only things to care about, friend," the raven replied sage-like.

"Oh, I didn't know they were things now . . ."

Sasuke gave no reply; instead he hummed the low tune that was playing in the background of the Dorm Office.


	2. The New Roommate

**Chapter Two**

The New Roommate

* * *

"Yes her name is Sakura, and she's wicked hot!" Sasuke's voice carried all throughout the cafeteria, not that he cared much, seeing as there was only about twenty students or so accompanying them.

Naruto shuffled in his seat trying to distance himself away from the conversation as much as possible, without offending his friend. His mind was elsewhere, not on stupid girls with pink hair. He was still angry with the lecture that Granny Tsunade gave before beginning term. How could there be a curfew? It would barely leave Naruto and his friends to do anything fun outside of school.

"Is she really? I'll have to check her out," Shikamaru said, leaning on the table, intrigued by Sasuke's story.

"Really, Shikamaru? You were sitting right next to me at the assembly. How did you not see her?" Kiba asked, his eyebrows furrowed like a dog in attack mode.

Shikamaru didn't answer; instead he simply sat in his chair with a dazed look upon his face, much like Naruto's. He was still thinking on the lecture, light years away from the conversation in front of him. A new curfew would mean new rules to break, that would be the only plus side that he could see, but wasn't breaking rules getting a little old? Maybe it was time be more mature and start acting like a seventeen year-old should. Or maybe he could just cause more mischief and have fun with all his friends. The latter sounded better to him.

"What did you think of her, Naruto?" Kiba asked, bringing Naruto back from space.

"Huh? Think of who?"

"The girl! That Sakura girl!" Sasuke said excited to talking about her some more.

"You're still going on about her? She's just a girl, you know, nothing all that special . . ." Naruto said, bringing a frown to Sasuke's once exuberant face.

Sasuke turned away, his hair following at a less dramatic rate. Naruto ignored his friend's theatrics and simply laughed it off, making the raven even more sour. Kiba shrugged the business away and decided to scarf down his slice of pizza.

"Does anyone else think the new girl is hot?" Shikamaru said airily, his hands under the table.

"Seriously man, you've gotta lay off the weed . . ." Sasuke said, smiling crookedly, "it's really messing you up . . ."

"But she's right there," Shikamaru replied, matching Sasuke's diagonal smile and pointing to the front of the lunch room.

Everyone at the table turned to look at her, all staring in her direction, awkwardly gawking. The girl was very pretty, now that Naruto was looking at her for what seemed like the first time. Now that she was closer physically, he could at least agree that she was a very nice looking, pink haired, book-carrying girl. She was wearing the same thing from the assembly that was only a couple of hours ago. Her top was a plain white t-shirt with a crew neck. The shirt tucked nicely into a pair of navy blue short shorts. A brown leather knapsack draped her shoulders, and she carried herself around with a dark blue pair of Vans sneakers.

"Sakura Haruno," Sasuke breathed.

"She is pretty hot," Kiba said at once, discarding his pizza crust.

"yeah, she is," Shikamaru said tersely.

Naruto didn't say anything. He was sure that this girl was one of those self-absorbed types, always worrying about themselves and what they needed to do. Besides, she looked plain, nothing special about her, except for her hair, which was one of the softest pinks he had ever seen.

She was looking around the lunchroom, obviously trying to find a place to sit and looking very distressed about it. Sasuke whistled to her and tried to call her attention over to the boys, before Naruto clapped his hand across the raven-haired boy's mouth.

"Don't say anything," Naruto warned, "let's see where she goes, so we can see what kind of girl she really is."

Naruto had a huge grin on his face, thinking he was smart for coming up with such a new way of cyphering a girl. But, that smile soon turned into a sad frown as he watched the girl walk all the way to a far corner, sit down at an empty table, and begin reading one of her books, alone. It was saddening to say the least, watching someone, especially a pretty girl, sitting and eating by themselves, but she made it look like she was accustomed to it.

"Happy now," Sasuke said, turning back around and continuing to eat his lunch.

Why Sasuke never went over to talk to Sakura, Naruto would never know . . .

* * *

"Hello, my name is Sai, I think I'm your new roommate . . ."

"You think? Or are you?" Naruto asked the pale skinned boy.

The boy called Sai whipped out a piece of parchment containing only a few words in black ink. He stared at it intently until he popped his head back up with a smile that didn't really apply to the conversation.

"This is room 25, dorm A, right?" he asked, still awkwardly smiling.

"Yes, it is," Sasuke said, grabbing a suitcase from the bottom of his bed and placing it on a nearby bureau, "he's just messing with you."

"Messing with me," Sai repeated, now staring at Naruto, almost as intensly as he did the paper.

"Jeez, it was just a joke," Naruto sighed, flopping onto his bed and putting his arms behind his head.

"And your names are?" Sai asked.

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha, and my friend over there is Naruto Uzumaki, but we call him the village idiot," Sasuke said, making sure that Naruto could hear him.

Sai didn't laugh, even though Sasuke meant it as a joke. The pale boy was a hard person to interpret, it was like he had no emotions, or they were forced, Naruto couldn't really tell. This Sai boy was a weirdo, as far as social skills went, and in this school, they went pretty far.

"I'm a new student," it was like Sai was fishing for conversation starters, "Is this a good school?"

"Yeah, if you're into school and all that," Naruto said, laughing a little and leaning on his elbow.

"It's not about school, man," Sasuke said, his back turned to the two, "it's about the girls."

"Yeah, they're pretty nice here," Sai said simply, sitting on the far bed and looking at Sasuke who was hanging clothes in his closet, "they helped me when I was lost, trying to find this dorm."

"Nice?" Naruto asked, laughing harder now, "yeah, they're nice. Sasuke's working on a list of all the girls he's screwed here."

Sasuke laughed too, looking at his friend and remembering the night they spent in Sophomore year, naming all the girls that he had fraternized with.

"That was such a good night," Sasuke said idly, still remembering.

Naruto looked at Sai, who simply looked like he didn't want to be here. His face at least said that, or maybe he was reading him wrong, but Naruto was usually a good judge at that.

"Hey," Naruto said warmly to Sai, "welcome to the school, it's really nice to have you here."

Sai turned to blonde, and smiled, just as warmly, "thank you," he said, "it's good to be here."

"Oh, how nice to see you two getting along, what a Kodak moment," Sasuke said sarcastically, earning himself a thrown pillow aimed at his head by Naruto.


	3. Midnight Departure

** Chapter Two**

Midnight Departure

* * *

"I don't know about this . . ."

"What do you mean? We leave and come back, it's as easy as that."

"Why couldn't you go earlier today? Now you're risking both of us."

"Look, I said I needed your help, are you going to help me?"

The pale moon gave little light to the two students bickering back and forth. The blonde was bearing car keys in his hand and the raven haired boy next to him was carrying what looked to be a heavy set of large boxes. It was around midnight when the two decided to go for a drive, well after the curfew.

"These are so heavy!" Sasuke said, nearly dropping the boxes.g

"We're almost at the car, I think you can handle it," Naruto said, peering crossly over the length of the lot.

"I don't see you carrying anything," Sasuke huffed his annoyance away and instead focused his attention to the topmost box, which was teetering on the edge of the other.

"If that breaks, you're dead," Naruto warned, noticing the unbalanced package.

"What's in these anyways?"

"You'll see . . ."

* * *

She awoke in daze. A flare of pink hair rose with her sudden jolt. Her dorm room was asleep, probably because they didn't hear it. What was it anyway? It sounded like a car engine, coming to life. _A car engine?_

She moved the blinds above her bed away and peeked out the window. Her room overlooked the parking lot, which was convenient in this current situation. She didn't have to look long before seeing the rear lights of a blue Honda Civic ablaze with red. A dark haired boy was clambering into the passenger seat. Come to think of it, she recognized the dark-haired boy. He was the same guy that often stared at her weirdly in biology class.

She sat down in her bed, not wanting to watch the car pull out of the lot. She wondered where they could possibly be off to at this time in the night. It must be important.

* * *

"Sasuke, roll up your window, it's too cold out."

Naruto had his left hand on his chin, scoping out the street before them, his right hand steering the car carefully. Sasuke did as he was told, but not without another huff of annoyance. They were driving very slowly, Naruto trying to get a lay of the land, and waiting for the right street to turn onto. The lampposts were shining brightly on each side of the road, providing plenty of light for the two to see ahead of them.

"We're almost there . . ." Naruto murmured to himself.

"Can you please tell me where we're going now?" Sasuke's voice came from the side, as if he weren't looking at Naruto.

"No, I want you to be surprised."

* * *

What would she do about it? They were already gone. Telling her grandmother wouldn't be a good idea either, it wasn't exactly the right way to make friends. She brought her hand to her chin, trying to devise some sort of plan.

A girl in the bed opposite her's on the other side of the room was beginning to stir. Her blonde hair was rising like a golden waterfall. The pink-haired girl quickly shot up, out of bed and sidled over to her dresser.

"Sakura, what are you doing?" the blonde beauty asked.

"Hm?" Sakura managed, she didn't know why but her heart was beating faster than it should have been, like _she _had just driven off to God knows where.

'Why are you up?" the blonde questioned further, her eyebrow raised.

"Oh, I was just . . . studying, I forgot I have test tomorrow."

"You're studying by your dresser?"

"Well, I . . ." she couldn't rat those two out. There was no normal justification as to why, but for some reason lying seemed to be the right thing to do. She just hoped those two had a good reason for leaving. "I was just putting my stuff away . . . in the . . . dresser?" She didn't mean for the sudden change in intonation towards the last of her lie, but it seemed strange that someone would stow their school things in a dresser.

Luckily, Ino didn't catch the pinkette's peak of intonation, she was too busy watching their third roommate rise from slumber.

"What's going on?" Hinata Hyuuga asked, her hair in a bluish-purplish hair in a frizz.

Ino looked to Sakura, it was evident that the dean's granddaughter was hiding something. She would find out later, now she had to sleep. "Sakura-chan was just finishing up her studying, right?"

Sakura slowly nodded her head, not taking her eyes off the blonde. _What was she up to?_

"Jeez," Hinata breathed, "of course we get stuck with the bookworm!"

The Hyuuga flopped back down in bed and threw her hands up in annoyance. Ino eyed sakura warily before doing the same, just not as dramatic.

_I'm not a bookworm_, Sakura thought to herself, _those two better have a good reason for making her lie like that!_

* * *

"I have to say, Naruto, I am impressed," Sasuke said patting his friend on the back as they walked through the parking lot of the school once more.

"I bet you didn't think I had that in me!" Naruto replied, chuckling softly.

"Really I didn't. I think that makes up for dragging me with you and risking both our expulsions."

"I doubt Granny would actually expel us," Naruto said more seriously.

"I wouldn't put it pass her. But, even so, watching that, made me really appreciate things, so for that, I guess I can thank you."

"Com'n it wasn't all that . . ." Naruto sighed, scratching his head.

* * *

She heard their car pull back into the parking lot, and now she was running down the stairs to confront them, a spark of anger coursing through her. She could here their voices, they were only a flight of stairs away.

* * *

They could hear footsteps moving rapidly down the stairs above them. Naruto and Sasuke were instantly filled with fear. Lady Tsunade was coming to get them, she was going to expel them for sure. The hairs on their necks were standing on end now, as the footsteps hit the landing.

"It was all his idea!" Sasuke yelled, "he made me go with him, he kidnapped me!"

"What the hell, man!" Naruto hissed, clonking his friend on the head.

* * *

She was immediately taken aback. She was right, it was the boy from her biology class, but his partner in crime was . . . she didn't know. He was strikingly handsome, his blue eyes piercing her green ones. For a moment she couldn't speak, it was like she didn't remember why she was even there.

* * *

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Naruto joked, finding his dignity after losing it to fear.

This gave Sakura the chance to find her own words. His voice was so arrogant, after all she had just basically saved them from getting expelled by not telling her roommates about their midnight departure.

"Are you serious?" the pinkette asked, her hair flaring.

"Actually it was a joke," Naruto pointed out, crossing his arms and smiling cheekily.

What she wouldn't do to punch this boy right now. She clenched her fist, and readied it beside her hip and was about to throw it at the blonde's face, when a sudden noise caught her attention.

"What's going on up there?!" an authoritative voice called up to them from somewhere below.

The voice emanated its demand for information up three sets of stairs.

"It's Lady Tsunade!" Sasuke squealed, putting his hands to his mouth and raising his brow, "if she catches us, we're done for!"

"Com'n! This way!" Naruto roared, taking both the pinkette and the raven by the arms and dragging them out of the landing.

He took them through a door adjacent to set of stairs that Sakura came down, leading them through the west corridor. It sounded like Tsunade was hot on their trail, and they would be found in no time. He had to find a place where they could hide.

"This will do!" he said aloud, swinging open a classroom door, and throwing the others inside with him. They glanced around the room. Moonlight peeked through the open windows, providing ample sight conditions, allowing Naruto to see the classroom's closet. He quickly ran to it, opening its doors, and striding inside. Once he was fully in, he beckoned the others.

"Uh! Why did I get dragged into this?" Sakura whispered.

"Quiet, your breath stinks," Naruto replied.

"Excuse me?"

"Guys, I think I'm gonna puke," Sasuke said, sounding unnaturally feminine.

"Shhhhhhh . . ."

The door to the classroom slowly creaked open. The sound of footsteps, click clacking about was enough to give the three goosebumps. Tsunade was obviously looking for them, and it was only a matter of time before she would think to look in the closet.

Then, without another second spared, the door was shut again, and Tsunade was out of the room. Why she never looked in the closet, Naruto would never know, he was just glad that she didn't.

"Phew!" Sasuke released, wiping the sweat off his forehead and turning the nob to leave the closet.

Naruto followed his friend back into the classroom, Sakura following him in his wake.

"This was all your fault you know!" she exclaimed, making Naruto whip around.

"What? How was I supposed to know your Grandma would show up?"

"Maybe if you thought of that before you went out and ran about the village, then this wouldn't have happened!"

"Nobody asked you to get involved! Why did you come downstairs anyways?!" Naruto bellowed, crossing his arms once again.

"Because I . . . I . . ."

"Look, guys, this is no time to be fighting," Sasuke intervened.

Both Naruto and Sakura looked at the raven, their eyes set on his. Sasuke held up his hands as if to insinuate he didn't want to get any further involved.

"You're right," Sakura said, her face slacking, "we should just go back to our rooms."

"Finally, you say something sensible . . ." Naruto cracked.

"You know, I'm getting really tired of you, and I just met you."

"Whatever . . ."

Sakura turned on her heel and began to walk out of the room, her pink hair flicking precariously. Naruto simply turned to the window, as if watching her leave was too much of a job.

"Hey Sakura-chan," Sasuke called after her.

She stopped walking, lending the raven her ear.

"Just don't tell anyone about this, okay?"

Without a word, the pinkette departed the moonlit classroom leaving Sasuke with an outstretched arm, and Naruto with a sour taste in his mouth.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hmmm . . . What's this tension between Naruto and Sakura? And what were Naruto and Sasuke doing when they left the school at such a late hour?

Let me know what you guys think about this story. Really, getting reviews and such, for me at least, is like incentive to write more, so please if you have anything, just post it.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy the story! :)


	4. The Letter

**Chapter Four**

The Letter

* * *

"Why don't you just go say you're sorry?"

"Because! I don't think I have to, she was just as mean as I was!"

"You're so stubborn . . ."

The bell for lunch had just sounded throughout the school, allowing students to leave their classes and meander in any which way they saw fit, but only for an hour. Naruto and Sasuke packed up their book bags and departed their english seminar, following a certain pink-haired girl to the cafeteria. All the while, Sasuke was murmuring things into his friend's ear, pleading for him to apologize so they could eventually be friends with the girl.

"If you say your sorry . . . I'll do your homework for the rest of the month!" Sasuke said, his eyes lighting up when Naruto turned to him.

"First of all, the month ends in a week, and second; you don't even do your own homework." Naruto answered as the two rounded a corner into the staircase leading to the first floor.

The pair found themselves in the lunch room a minute or so later, the whole time bickering back and forth like two pigeons. Naruto spotted an empty table at the far end of the hall, big enough to fit all of his friends. The blonde and black-haired fellows sat down at it, not even bothering to get a lunch. Instead, they sat in silence as the pink-haired girl found herself in the same predicament as the first day of school: finding a proper seat to sit at. She look perplexed, nearly dancing in circles as she looked around the crowded cafeteria. Naruto almost felt bad for her, but then he remembered her barking at him and the feelings of sympathy quickly died out. He turned his head and instead watched as Ino Yamanaka and Hinata Hyuuga entered the hall.

These two girls were very pretty. In fact, in sophomore year, Sasuke had a list of girls whom he found the most attractive at the school, and these two were at the very top of the list. Ino had long, flowing blonde haired, almost the same color as Naruto, and Hinata's was dark and tamed, much like Sasuke's. They were both wearing the school colors of green and yellow atop their Konoha Academy cheer leading uniforms. Ino was the head cheer leader and Hinata was a close-to-that underling, or, as Naruto associated her, a minion.

"Hey Sakura!" Ino called out, waving a hand when her and Hinata found a suitable table. "Come sit with us!"

Sakura's head perked up, a smile playing at her lips. She slowly began walking towards the two popular girls, her lunch in hand.

"Looks like pinky has found some new friends." Kiba Inuzuka said as he sat down at the table with Naruto and Sasuke, the lazy, pessimistic, Shikamaru following close behind.

"Yeah . . ." Sasuke murmured. "That's not the right crowd to be hanging around with . . ."

"But they're all roommates in the same dorm. Naturally, they are going to form a bond, in some way or another." Sai, the pale, and oddly friendly roommate of Sasuke and Naruto said. He was standing behind Shikamaru, looking down onto the table. He had an apple in his hand, the color of a ruby, and notebook in the other.

"Jeez man, you scared the crap out of me!" Shikamaru cried, his hands hovering over his head.

"I'm sorry for the fright." Sai said in what sounded like a genuine voice, yet, Naruto couldn't be too sure. "But, I really must go . . . I have a date . . ."

"What?" Naruto and Kiba both exclaimed at the same time, Kiba spurting milk out of his mouth. "_You_have a date?"

"Don't be mean!" Sasuke said, nudging the blonde in the rib cage.

"I take it from your intonation that you don't believe me." Sai said, ignoring Naruto's insult. "I can understand why you wouldn't believe me, after all, I am a new student . . ." He trailed off. Ending the topic rather quickly, Sai stalked off, walking through the double doors of the lunch room and out of sight.

"Hm . . ." Kiba said, watching the pale brunette make his exit. "I wonder who he's meeting . . ."

"Like it matters." Naruto huffed.

"You just hate to see anyone happy." Sasuke said flatly.

* * *

In the following hours of the school day Sasuke and Naruto went their separate ways, met up again, and separated once more. Naruto found himself sitting alone in his dorm while the raven-haired boy finished up one of his classes. He sat on his bed, scribbling a couple of notes on a paper for his Algebra class. He wasn't the best student in the world, and certainly not the most studious, but something had just come over him. A small wave of wanting to do something other than nothing overcame his defiance against school.

It was starting to get late, around seven o' clock, he supposed. Sasuke surely wasn't still in class . . . he was probably just fraternizing with another one of his girls. Where did he find these females? It was like they just came out of the woodwork, half of them, Naruto had never even seen before. It must have been Sasuke's philosophy, which was plainly: to be approachable. Whatever that meant . . . Naruto shrugged the thought away, and put away his notes.

_Knock, knock, knock!_

Someone's was tapping on his door. It couldn't have been anyone he was all that friendly with, otherwise the door would have already been opened and someone would have already walked in by now. Naruto waited for this occurrence, hoping Kiba was trying to be polite for once in his life. A minute passed and no one entered. He even called out for the person to come in, but still, nothing. Naruto threw his legs out of bed and strode to the door, intending on scolding whoever it was for ignoring him. But . . . no one was there. Instead, lay a note upon the floor, swirly writing keeping Naruto practically entranced.

He picked the small leaflet up, a tingling sensation running up his arm as he did. It was enveloped, and sealed with candle wax. In other words, it looked very formal, and a little unsettling to the confused blonde.

"Hello?" He muscled up.

No answer.

He shut the door behind himself after he walked back into his room. The door opened again, this time not by Naruto. Sasuke, the raven-haired neanderthal came bounding under the threshold, his shirt ripped at the collar, and the brightest smile on his face.

"You wouldn't believe what happened to me-" He tried to continue but Naruto cut him off with an aloof hand.

"Did you just leave this for me at the door?" Naruto asked, holding the letter out for Sasuke to see.

"No. Why would I write you a letter? Anyways-" Sasuke tried again.

"Are you sure? Because I wouldn't be surprised if it were you." Naruto said, sitting on his bed.

Sasuke let out a deep, defeated sounding sigh. He flopped down on his bed, letting his head hit against a soft pillow. "No, Naruto. I'm sure I didn't write you a letter. I'm only trying to tell you the best story in the world."

"I'm-" Now it was Sasuke's turn to cut Naruto off.

"You know, you've been acting very strange ever since that night with Sakura. And here I was thinking you were actually a good person . . ."

"I'm still a good person . . . I wouldn't have done what I did that night if I weren't." Naruto said bleakly.

"If you _really_ were a good person, then you'd apologize to her. But, we all know Naruto is too-" Sasuke didn't get cut off this time. Actually, he never had a chance to finish his sentence before Naruto dashed out of the room, letter in hand. Sasuke let out another defeated sigh. "There he goes again . . . stubborn as a mule . . ."

* * *

There was a knock on her door. She silently stood up, obliging to Ino and Hinata's plea to answer it. She let out a tiny gasp before realizing it was only Naruto at the door. He was huffing and puffing, his chest heaving up and down.

"Sakura, who's at the door?" Hinata whined.

Naruto moved past Sakura and entered the room. He waved at the other two girls with a half-smile attached. Ino and Hinata returned his wave with confused looks. "Sakura." Naruto said urgently. "Can I talk to you outside, please?" He added when he saw her face.

"I have nothing to say to you!" Sakura spat, her pink hair on the verge of turning red with rage.

"C'mon! It's important." He then grabbed her by the wrist and whisked her away outside the door, closing it behind himself.

Ino raised an eyebrow to Hinata, who fixed her an I-wanna-know-what's-going-on-right-now look. _Sakura and Naruto? The new girl and the school's burnout? _Ino asked herself. _So that's what she was doing the other night, waiting for Naruto._

"You know." Hinata began. "He wouldn't even be noticed if it weren't for Sasuke."

"You have a point." Ino replied.

* * *

"I came here to apologize . . ." Naruto said softly. He scratched his soft, spiky blonde hair and put his head down, waiting for a reply.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you." Sakura said, her hands on her hips. "Say it louder."

"Hey, I didn't come here to be ridiculed, I'm apologizing, isn't that what you want?"

"No. I want you to mean it!"

"But you were at fault too!" Naruto tried.

"No I wasn't! A woman is never at fault. You should know this by now. Didn't your parents teach you anything?"

"I'm sure they would have if they weren't dead!" Naruto snapped back.

Sakura went stark white. Her face tensed up and her body went as straight as a board. Naruto turned away from her. He hadn't mentioned his parents in years. Sure, they were with him for a short while, all the way up until he turned four. They were only around long enough for Naruto to have known about them, to get attached, for them to be missed.

"I- I'm so-"

"Sorry?" Naruto said lowly. "That's what I've been trying to say this whole time . . ."

"I didn't know . . . I wouldn't have said anything . . ." Sakura tried, but Naruto only held up a hand to stop her.

"I don't want you to pity me, I'm getting along fine without them. You were right, too. I was out of line the other night. That's no way to treat a lady . . ."

"It's okay. I was just- just- I don't know . . ."

Naruto smiled weakly at her. He held out a hand, offering peace between the two. She graciously took it, shaking it loosely. "I'm sorry." She finally murmured after a minute of silence.

"Really, don't worry about it . . ." Naruto replied, his smile broader than before.

"What's that in your hand?" Sakura asked, a little too enthusiastically. She was trying to diffuse the situation by changing the subject.

"That was the other reason I came over here." Naruto said, bringing the unopened letter into the light. "I was going to ask if you were the one who left it by my door, but I guess you just answered that."

"Someone just left it for you?" She asked. Naruto nodded. "That's kinda creepy . . ."

"Tell me about!" Naruto said. He had already forgotten about the situation from before. "They just knocked and left."

"I wouldn't do something like that. I'm more of a head-on kind of girl."

"Yeah I noticed." Naruto said sarcastically, eliciting a laugh from Sakura. "But, do you know someone who would."

Ino and Hinata ran through her mind the second this question was proposed. They seemed just the type to hide behind a letter. She thought it best not to say their names however, she was finally making friends, after two weeks at this school. "I have no idea." She said flatly. "What does it say?"

Naruto ripped open the envelope, trying to save from the dramatics, but he couldn't stop his heart from pounding in his chest. He pulled out the paper from inside and unfolded it, unveiling only a few words in more swirly writing.

_I know your secret. _


	5. Of Tests and Jealousy

**Chapter Five**

Of Tests and Jealousy

* * *

It scared Naruto, it really did.

_I know your secret . . ._

How could someone have figured it out? He'd kept that secret for years, never telling anyone, not even Sasuke. It was hard to believe that his secret had gotten out, and unsettling to say the least. So, like any teenage detective, he began to retrace his steps. He thought of every instance where his secret may have come up in conversation, but, to no avail. Naruto was stuck, and scared, which was exactly how Sakura had found him one day in the library.

"Hey, Naruto." She said, sitting down across from the blonde at a lone table.

Naruto simply returned her greeting with a low growl and and a blank stare. Sakura rolled her eyes, and slapped her palm to her forehead.

"You're still going on about that?" She sighed. "It's probably someone just messing with you."

Naruto looked away from her, thinking it best not to give her an answer. He took to glaring at a nearby boy flipping through a book in front of a tall shelf.

"Unless . . ." Sakura began.

"I already told you, I'm not hiding anything." Naruto lied, for what felt like the millionth time.

Sakura sighed again, and rested her head on her hand. "I just think its funny." She said smiling. "Something like this shouldn't get you so worked up, if it weren't true."

It was Naruto's turn to sigh this time. Instead of giving her one of his signature retorts, he just huffed and laid his head down on the table.

* * *

Naruto and Sakura went their separate ways, intending on meeting up again another day. Recently, as in, over the past few weeks, they had both taken to hanging out with each other, mainly in the library. Naruto thought it was weird that she always chose that place for their sessions, because normally he wouldn't be caught dead in a library. But, he couldn't say no to her insistent smile and annoyingly perky eyes. So he endured the time in the library, and kept up his slacker reputation by cutting class and finding new ways to piss off the dean.

"Hey, Naruto. Can I talk to you for a sec?" Sasuke said from behind a large history book.

"Sure." Naruto said as he closed the dorm room door behind himself.

Sasuke was sitting on his bed studying, a rare occurrence indeed, tapping his foot to the gentle music playing from the corner. Naruto sat down at the desk at the far end of the room, and powered up the computer, focused on doing some before-bed-internet-surfing. "I wanted to ask you about Sakura." Sasuke murmured in his lowest of voices, setting his book down on the floor with a thud.

"What about her?" Naruto asked, not even turning to look at Sasuke, and instead staring at the blackened laptop screen.

"I just wanted to know why you're hanging out with her all of the sudden." Sasuke replied.

Naruto could tell Sasuke was jealous. Ever since the blonde had begun seeing the pinkette, the raven sulked in the corner, in a rather unusual way. Sasuke had taken to making himself absent in Naruto's life, after classes were over that is. Naruto hardly saw the raven in the past few weeks, and he was actually surprised he saw the Uchiha at all when he walked in the room.

"I'm not . . . hanging out with her . . ." Naruto managed to say, hiding his face from Sasuke.

"Well, you know I like her right?" Sasuke said in a tiny breath.

Naruto didn't here any hostility in his voice, so he decided to turn around. "Yeah, I knew that . . . besides, you have nothing to worry about. We're just friends, I'm only doing what you said to do."

Sasuke looked at Naruto directly in the eyes, matching his hard onyx color to the blonde's crystal blue. He sighed at Naruto and wiped his nose before abruptly standing up and departing the dorm, leaving Naruto to dwell on what he just said.

* * *

"You're not doing anything wrong, I promise." Kiba said one early morning right before the first biology exam of the semester.

The entire class had gathered in the gymnasium for the first set of exams for the midterm. The gym was filled to the brim with an array of shabby looking desks. Many of the students were already seated, Kiba and Naruto being among them, stationed in the very middle of the cluster.

"I know I'm not, Sasuke is just jealous." Naruto said, leaning his elbow on the table and laying his head on his head. The blonde wore a distressed face, his lips pouted and his eyebrows furrowed in thought. Sasuke wanted him to be friends with Sakura, why was he acting like this.

Sasuke was sitting next to a vibrant looking Rock Lee. They were laughing together, probably over some ridiculous joke that Lee told. Lee, the class-clown with a uniquely styled bowl-cut hairdo was easily the most eccentric student at the Leaf Village Academy. It was strange that Sasuke would risk his reputation of the school's coolest kid by hanging around Lee, even being friend's with Naruto was pushing it.

"Hey guys." Shikamaru Nara announced as he slumped down into an empty seat next to Naruto. "This test is about to kick my ass."

Naruto gave a muffled laugh in response, making the Nara raise an eyebrow in response. "You always say that before you ace tests."

"Yeah, you're like a natural-born genius." Kiba agreed, bearing a grin full of sharp-looking teeth.

Shikamaru shook the praise away with a silent wave of his hand, and then turned to see Sasuke sitting a few rows away to the right. "Why is Sasuke sitting with Lee?"

"What? Lee's a good kid." Naruto said, lifting his head from his hand.

"Our friend Sasuke is avoiding Naruto." Kiba answered.

Naruto spun around to give Kiba a slightly angered look.

"Why is he avoiding you?" Shikamaru pressed.

Naruto heaved a deep sigh, his eyebrow twitching. "Apparently, hanging out with Sakura is rewarding of avoidance." He said lowly.

Shikamaru shook his head and released a small chuckle. "I seem to remember him telling you to apologize to her."

"I know right!" Naruto said loudly, making a brown-haired girl perk her head up and turn away from her friends. Naruto gave the girl a toothy grin and she turned away, shaking her head as she did.

"But, he never said to be friends with her." Shikamaru continued, completely shutting Naruto down. "Besides, you know Sasuke likes her."

"Yeah I know that, but he just wants to like, you know . . ." Naruto said, while Shikamaru nodded knowingly.

"You sound like _you_ like her, Naruto." Kiba said, letting loose such a giggle that it would have put Ino to shame.

"Trust me. I don't like _anyone_." Naruto said matter-of-factly.

The three boys all laughed at this as the bell rang, signaling all the students to sit and prep for their tests.

* * *

_Two chromosomes . . . no, three . . . damn . . ._

Naruto slapped his forehead. How could he be _this _unprepared? He started to wish he actually studied in the library with Sakura rather than just talked about nothing. He didn't mean that, he was just angry at himself. He and Sakura had really good conversations now that he thought of it. Talks of life, talks of music, books and all sorts of art. Naruto didn't know much about all of that, save for the music part, he definitely knew his music, but Sakura knew just about everything. There wasn't a question he could ask that could stump her, and he really tried.

She was sitting to the left, diagonally away from him. She was with Ino and Hinata, whom were both trying to cheat off Sakura. Naruto watched as Ino and Hinata practically sandwiched the poor pinkette and bribe her for answers. Naruto shook his head deliberately slow, feeling bad for Sakura. She really shouldn't be hanging out with those girls, they are the epitome of bad news.

In Naruto's disapproving head shake he saw Sasuke, his raven-like hair tilted to the side. He was looking at Sakura, longing in his eyes. Naruto felt bad for him too, he felt like he was doing something wrong by spending time with Sakura, even though he knew it was only innocent. But, did Sakura even feel the same way about Sasuke as he did her? Naruto shook his head again, this time disapproving his own thoughts and continuing his work on his test.

He would never finish anyway.

* * *

"Naruto! Wait up!"

The blonde wheeled around, not accustomed to a girl calling his name like that. It was Sakura, and she came in a half sprint, carrying two books, and a pencil in her ear. "Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing much, me and the girls are about to have a sleepover in Tenten's room!"

"Look at you, getting all popular." Naruto said, betraying a laugh.

"Aw shucks . . ." Sakura said sarcastically. "How do you think you did on the test?"

"Well, I don't think I did all that great . . ." He scratched his head absentmindedly.

"Aww, I'm really sorry . . . do you need help?" She asked.

He could tell she was trying to be sincere, and her offer of help was definitely genuine, and he definitely needed it, yet, he still shook his head no. "That's alright . . . You don't have to worry about me, I always do fine." It was true. If anything, Naruto never did all that bad when it came to school.

"Well, if you're sure . . ." She put her head down in concentration.

"I'm serious." Naruto said smiling. Sakura returned his smile with sparkly white teeth. "Don't worry about me, just enjoy your night tonight."

"I will." She said skipping ahead of him to the east wing intersection. "As long as you text me tonight, okay?"

Naruto nodded, still smiling. She then disappeared down a long hallway, going towards the girl dormitories. Even though he was still smiling, and he was happy to see her smile, Naruto just couldn't shake Sasuke out of his mind.


End file.
